Revolution: Billy Burke & JD Pardo On The Threat Of A Powered-Up Monroe

March 25, 2013 11:01 AM EDT

“Revolution” returns with its first new episodes of 2013 on Monday night, and according to Billy Burke, who plays reluctant hero Miles Matheson, the show won’t skip a beat.

“We’re gonna start off the second half of the season exactly where we left off, but we’re off and running now, and the revolution, as it were, has actually begun now,” Billy told AccessHollywood.com, at NBC’s TCA party earlier this year, addressing the second half of the first season.

The NBC series from Eric Kripke and J.J. Abrams wrapped up the first half of the season – in late 2012 — with the Matheson family and friends, running from Monroe – and a helicopter — after the militia leader learned how to use the pendant to turn on the power.

Billy likened Monroe with power to another dark figure in sci-fi mythology.

“Well, if this were ‘Star Wars,’ he’s Darth Vader. He’s the guy who holds all the keys to everything and it’s probably going to remain that way for a while,” Billy told Access. “But, this part of the story, because we have started to reveal why the power has been cut down, and where it’s out, that only opens up a new door to the bigger parts of the story.”

Billy suggested there should also be more backstory with former best friends Miles and Monroe, who became militia leaders after the lights went out.

“As far as I know, what’s probably going to happen is we’re going to start to get deeper into the history of where Miles came from, the genesis of not only his relationship with Monroe, but the genesis of the militia itself and all those things that are in the missing 15 years — including his relationships with people like Rachel [Elizabeth Mitchell’s character], who he had no idea about,” he said. “So that’s where we’re going.”

For JD, whose storyline interweaves with the Matheson family rebels, in particular Charlie (Tracy Spiridakos), and with his own family – dad Tom Neville (Giancarlo Esposito) – a captain in Monroe’s army, expect him to have to make a big decision.

“He’s gotta choose and in the second half of the season, it’s really great because the stakes are raised. So he’s been walking this line back and forth and he has to make a choice,” JD said. “That’s what its boiled down to and being a part of the rebels means that he’s not only fighting against Monroe, but fighting against his father, and you know, how do you do that?”

JD said Jason will continue to have his eyes opened by Charlie, the young woman he started to fall for (and saved) in the first half of the season.

“Jason feels like he’s doing good. He wants to be good and do good. He has a mission, and for him, he’s been raised with this belief — especially being part of the Monroe clan — that the rebels are bad, so he wants to fight against the rebels. But, he has this fondness for Charlie,” JD told Access. “Through her, he gets this other point of view and it doesn’t match up with what he’s been told. So, it’s great conflict and a lot of that is addressed between [Jason] and [Tom] in the coming episodes.”